Nomination of William French Smith To Be Attorney General of the United States

The President today nominated William French Smith, of Los Angeles, Calif., to be Attorney General of the United States.

Mr. Smith is a senior partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher of Los Angeles.

Born in Wilton, N.H., on August 26, 1917, Mr. Smith attended the University of California, where he received his A.B. summa cum laude in 1939, and Harvard University, where he received his LL.B. in 1942. He served in the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1946 and attained the rank of lieutenant.

He was admitted to the California Bar in 1942 and became a senior partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1946. Mr. Smith is a director of Pacific Lighting Corp., of San Francisco, Jorgensen Steel Co., and Pullman, Inc., of Chicago.

He has been a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on International, Educational, and Cultural Affairs in Washington since 1971; a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council since 1970 and its president since 1975; a member of the Los Angeles Committee on Foreign Relations from 1954 to 1974; a member of the Executive Committee of the California Roundtable since 1975; a trustee of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery since 1971; a trustee of Claremont Men's College since 1967; a trustee of the Cate School since 1971; and a trustee of the Northrop Institute of Technology from 1973 to 1975.

He has been a member of the Board of Regents of the University of California since 1968 and served as its chairman from 1970 to 1972, from 1974 to 1975, and in 1976. He has been a member of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles from 1963 to 1972; a member of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education since 1975; a member of the Advisory Council, Harvard University School of Government, since 1971; a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, since 1978; a member of the Stanton Panel on International Information, Education, and Cultural Relations, Washington, since 1974; a member of the Board of Governors of the Performing Arts Council, Los Angeles Music Center, since 1978; a director of the California Chamber of Commerce since 1963 and served as its president in 1974 and 1975.

He was a member of the California delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1968, 1972, and 1976, serving as chairman of the delegation in 1968 and vice chairman of the delegation in 1972 and 1976.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the American Judicature Society, and the American Law Institute.

He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, and Pi Sigma Alpha.

He is married to the former Jean Webb, and they have four children: William French, Stephanie Oakes, Scott Cameron, and Gregory Hale.